SAN JOSE, Calif. (May 20, 2014)—Research from the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council’s upcoming “State of Marketing” report reveals that most CMOs are building greater alignment with executives in finance, IT and sales, but only 15 percent are actively forging relationships with heads of procurement. As a result, marketers lack the strategic sourcing capabilities and insights needed to minimize risk and gain maximum value from their partnerships and investments.

The cover story in the latest edition of PeerSphere—the CMO Council’s peer-inspired, peer-driven and peer-influenced quarterly journal—delves into this often tumultuous relationship and includes insights from marketing and procurement executives to provide a greater understanding of the gaps that exist between these functions, as well as best practices for building greater alignment and driving business value. The latest issue is available today and also features insights from global marketing executives at companies such as Grand Prix of America, WIRSOL, the Consumer Electronics Association, Disney/ABC Television Group, World Trade Jewelers and more.

The cover story for the new issue also reveals the importance of having an accurate understanding of the goals of procurement and how misalignment between marketing and procurement can cost businesses big dollars in the end. Ultimately, greater effort needs to be made by both parties in order to implement a strategy that meets the goals of each while minimizing risk and ensuring maximum value for all investments and partnerships.

“Our research underscores the need for marketing to gain a more comprehensive grasp of their supply chain costs and purchasing impact, and in order to obtain this level of understanding, alignment with procurement is key,” noted the CMO Council’s Executive Director, Donovan Neale-May. “Procurement has unparalleled experience in refining contract details and compensation policies, as well as ensuring fair, performance-based vendor selection to achieve maximum value for the dollars spent. When this partnership exists, everyone wins.”

The latest PeerSphere edition covers a wide range of subjects relevant to global marketing leaders and features articles on a variety of pertinent subjects, among them:

• How to secure and justify event marketing investments


• A behavioral manifesto for measuring and managing customer experience and loyalty


• Ninja innovation tips for implementing successful marketing strategies to outperform the competition


• Interviews with Michael Williams, Chief Marketing Officer for Grand Prix of America, and Tobias Eisele, Head of Marketing for WIRSOL (Germany)
  

PeerSphere is now available on a complimentary basis to CMO Council members courtesy of our sponsor, Thomson Reuters. For more information or to view the issue online, visit http://www.cmocouncil.org/thought-leadership/peer-sphere.

About the CMO Council

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council is the only global network of executives specifically dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. The CMO Council's 7,000-plus members control approximately $400 billion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the CMO Council and its strategic interest communities include more than 35,000 global executives in more than 110 countries covering multiple industries, segments and markets.  Regional chapters and advisory boards are active in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa. The council's strategic interest groups include the Coalition to Leverage and Optimize Sales Effectiveness (CLOSE), Mobile Relationship Marketing (MRM) Strategies, LoyaltyLeaders.org, CMOCIOAlign.org, Marketing Supply Chain Institute, Customer Experience Board, Digital Marketing Performance Institute, GeoBranding Center and the Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience (FAME). More information on the CMO Council is available at www.cmocouncil.org.

CMO Council Media Contact:

Crystal Berry

Director, Marketing Programs and Communications

cberry@cmocouncil.org